Apparatus for and method of using a diversity antenna

ABSTRACT

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an antenna structure is provided having one or more antennae arranged so as to read all possible orientations of a randomly placed tag. Also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, is a method of configuring one or more antennae composed of the steps of: identifying the “dead zones” of each discrete antennae used, and orienting each antennae such that there are no “dead zones” common to all antennae. The unique antenna structure (and corresponding method) has particular application in tag reader antenna systems for use in RFID (radio frequency identification) applications (13.56 MHz) and the like. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, multiple RF (radio frequency) antennae are utilized as part of an intelligent station to track items tagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 60/489,934 ('934 application) filed Jul. 25, 2003. Thisapplication relates to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/338,892 ('892application), filed Jan. 9, 2003, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/348,941 ('941 application), filed Jan. 23, 2003, where the '892application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos.60/346,388 ('388 application), filed Jan. 9, 2002, and 60/350,023 ('023application), filed Jan. 23, 2002, where the '941 application is acontinuation-in-part of the '892 application and claims the benefit ofthe '023 application. This application further relates to U.S.Provisional Application Nos. 60/466,721 ('721 application), filed May 1,2003, 60/469,024 ('024 application), filed May 9, 2003, 60/479,158 ('158application), filed Jun. 18, 2003, and 60/679,846 ('846 application),filed Jun. 20, 2003, and PCT Application Nos. PCT/US/04/13195 (PCT'195), filed Apr. 29, 2004, PCT/US04/12354 (PCT '354), filed Jun. 18,2004, and PCT/US04/14396 (PCT '396), filed May 7, 2004. The disclosureof each of the '934, '892, '941, '388, '023, '721, '024, '158, '846, PCT'195, PCT '354, and PCT '396, applications is expressly incorporatedherein by reference in their respective entireties.

BACKGROUND

Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems typically use one or morereader antennae to send radio frequency (RF) signals to items taggedwith RFID tags. The use of such RFID tags to identify an item or personis well known in the art. In response to the radio frequency (RF)signals from a reader antenna, the RFID tags, when excited, produce adisturbance in the magnetic field (or electric field) that is detectedby the reader antenna. Typically, such tags are passive tags that areexcited or resonate in response to the RF signal from a reader antennawhen the tags are within the detection range of the reader antenna.

The detection range of the RFID systems is typically limited by signalstrength to short ranges, for example, frequently less than about onefoot for 13.56 MHz systems. Therefore, portable reader units may bemoved past a group of tagged items in order to detect all the taggeditems, particularly where the tagged items are stored in a spacesignificantly greater than the detection range of a stationary or fixedsingle reader antenna. Alternately, a large reader antenna withsufficient power and range to detect a larger number of tagged items maybe used. However, such an antenna may be unwieldy and may increase therange of the radiated power beyond allowable limits. Furthermore, thesereader antennae are often located in stores or other locations wherespace is at a premium and it is expensive and inconvenient to use suchlarge reader antennae. In another possible solution, multiple smallantennae may be used but such a configuration may be awkward to set upwhen space is at a premium and when wiring is preferred or required tobe hidden.

Current RFID reader antennas are designed so that a maximum read rangemay be maintained between the antenna and associated tags, withoutrunning afoul of FCC limitations on radiated emissions. Often times,when tagged items are stacked, the read range of an antenna is impededdue to “masking” that occurs through the stacking. As a result, themasking limits the number of tags that an antenna may read through, andconsequently affects the number of products that may be read.Furthermore, due to FCC limitations on radiated emissions, the readerantenna sizes cannot be adjusted to resolve such problems.

Resonant loop reader antenna systems are currently utilized in RFIDapplications, where numerous reader antennas are connected to a singlereader. Each reader antenna may have its own tuning circuit that is usedto match to the systems characteristic impedance. Multiple antennae (orcomponents) may require the use of multiple transmission cables toconnect a reader unit to the multiple antennae and/or to individuallycontrol the multiple antennae when they are all connected by a singletransmission cable to the reader unit.

RFID applications incorporating random placement of a product may resultin formation of “dead zones” for orientations in which the tag andreader antenna are in orthogonal planes. Dead zones are areas (dependentupon tag/reader antenna orientation) in which the level of couplingbetween the reader antenna and tag is not adequate for the system toperform a successful read of the tag. Thus, products placed in deadzones may not be detected resulting in potentially inaccurate trackingof tagged products.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an antennastructure is provided having one or more antennae arranged so as to readall possible orientations of a randomly placed tag. Also provided inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention is a method ofconfiguring one or more antennae composed of the steps of: identifyingthe “dead zones” of each discrete antennae used, and orienting eachantennae such that there are no “dead zones” common to all antennae. Theunique antenna structure (and corresponding method) has particularapplication in tag reader antenna systems for use in RFID (radiofrequency identification) applications (13.56 MHz) and the like. Inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment, multiple RF (radio frequency)antennae are utilized as part of an intelligent station to track itemstagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an RFID reader antenna and tag oriented for optimalperformance;

FIG. 2 illustrates an RFID reader antenna and tags oriented such that“dead zones” occur;

FIG. 3 illustrates three RFID reader antennae and a randomly orientedtag readable by at least one of the RFID reader antennae in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an RFID antenna system incorporated in an, exampleform factor in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an RFID tag adhered to a non-planar surface inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a diversity RFID antenna system in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a bin of a diversity RFID antenna system inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a detailed view of a bin of a diversity RFID antennasystem in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a second detailed view of a bin of a diversity RFIDantenna system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a detailed view of a large bin of a diversity RFIDantenna system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a second detailed view of a large bin of a diversityRFID antenna system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 12 illustrates various exemplary implementations of antenna formfactors for use in a diversity RFID antenna system in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13A illustrates a view of a shelf of an RFID antenna system inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13B illustrates various exemplary implementations of antenna formfactors for use in a shelf RFID antenna system in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates an electrical circuit for connecting an RFID readerto a plurality of diversity RFID antennae in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary antenna systemincorporating primary and secondary controllers to select antenna inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments and applications of the invention will now bedescribed. Other embodiments may be realized and changes may be made tothe disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention. Although the preferred embodiments disclosed herein havebeen particularly described as applied to the field of RFID systems, itshould be readily apparent that the invention may be embodied in anytechnology having the same or similar problems.

FIG. 1 shows an ideal orientation in which the plane of a reader antenna100 is parallel to the X-Y plane, and an RFID tag 110 is also parallelto the X-Y plane. The reader antenna 100 and the RFID tag 110 are thusparallel to each other. The reader antenna 100 has a feed point 101 thatwould be connected to circuitry such as tuning components, switchingcomponents, and an RFID reader (not shown here but described inpreviously referenced applications). Having RFID tag 110 parallel toreader antenna 100 generally allows for good RF coupling between the tagand reader antenna so that the tag may be read by the reader antenna.

FIG. 2 shows an example of some orientations that may result in a “deadzone” in which an RFID tag may not be read by a reader antenna. Readerantenna 100 is shown parallel to the X-Y plane. An RFID tag 111 is shownin the Y-Z plane (orthogonal to the X-Y plane and orthogonal to thereader antenna 100), while RFID tag 112 is shown in the X-Z plane(orthogonal to the X-Y plane and orthogonal to the reader antenna 100).RFID tags, such as 111 and 112, which are oriented as orthogonal to thereader antenna 100, may not allow for good RP coupling between the tagand reader antenna, and thus the tag may not be read by the readerantenna. In addition to the orientations shown for RFID tags 111 and112, any orthogonal plane in the inter-cardinal planes will also resultin a dead zone. For example, if RFID tags 111 or 112 are rotated aboutthe Z-axis, they will still be orthogonal to the X-Y plane andorthogonal to reader antenna 100. Hence, it may be difficult orimpossible for the reader antenna 100 to read the RFID tags 111 and 112.These tags may be considered to be in a “dead zone” with respect to thereader antenna. In this embodiment, the term “dead zone” refers to avolume and/or area where an antenna has limited ability to or cannotdetect an RFID contained within the volume and/or area.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, in order toreduce or eliminate the dead zones, additional reader antennae may beutilized. FIG. 3 illustrates one manner of permitting at least onenon-orthogonal configuration of reader antennae and tags in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the invention. For example, to read RFIDtag 130, which may be oriented in a random orientation, RFID antennaemay be situated as follows: reader antenna 120 in the X-Y plane, readerantenna 121 in the X-Z plane, and reader antenna 122 in the Y-Z plane.Each reader antenna may have a feed point (126, 127, and 128,respectively) connected to circuitry such as tuning components,switches, wiring, an RFID reader, etc. (not shown), as is well known inthe art.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, form factorsmay be incorporated which force specific orientations of reader and tagsin order to reduce the number of reader antennae. One such form factoris the RFID shelf 140 shown in FIG. 4 and described in a previouslyreferenced application, which is adapted to read tags associated with aproduct, for example, optical disks such as DVDs 150. The product suchas DVDs 150 used with this antenna form factor can be placed in the X-Zplane, that is, “face forward” as shown in FIG. 4. Each DVD 150 has anassociated RFID tag 151 (although any location may be used, the tag isshown for illustration purposes attached to the face of the DVD). A rearplane 141 contains one or more rear plane reader antennae 142 that areparallel to the orientation of the RFID tags 151. There is also asupporting surface 143 such as horizontal or sloped shelf or othersupport, and a front retaining lip 144 (alternatively, a bar, wire,other structure (or no structure at all) could also be used). The frontretaining lip 144 may serve to contain DVDs 150 within the structure, sothey do not slide forward and fall from the shelf 140. In oneembodiment, front retaining lip 144 encourages a preferred orientationof RFID tag 151, that is, the front retaining lip 144 acts to encouragea parallel orientation of RFID tag 151 with respect to rear planeantennae 142. The preferred orientation can be realized because thedistance on surface 143 between the rear plane 141 and the frontretaining lip 144 is large enough to hold one or more DVDs 150 in thepreferred face-forward orientation, but not large enough to hold a DVD150 in an edge-forward (top forward, bottom forward, or spine-orside-forward orientation). Thus, due to the physical constraint formedby surface 143 and/or the front retaining lip 144, the DVD 150 cannotconveniently be positioned in the X-Y (“face up”) or the Y-Z (“facesideways”) planes. In this embodiment, only one (or a minimal number of)rear plane reader antenna 142 is required.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, a tag may be placed on anon-planar product (preferably, having a curvature that does notseriously de-tune the tag performance). The non-planar tag (e.g., onethat is adhered, affixed, or otherwise coupled to a cylindrical surface)will have a finite projection in two orthogonal planes throughout 360°of rotation. If the projection is large enough to allow for adequatecoupling, only two reader antennae will be required.

FIG. 5 shows an RFID tag 162 that has been applied to the non-planarsurface such as the surface of a bottle or vial 160. Affixing an RFIDtag to a non-planar surface can avoid creation of dead zones. Inaccordance with a preferred embodiment, the tag can be adhered, affixed,or otherwise coupled to a doubly curved surface such as that of asphere. This results in the use of only one reader antenna with no deadzones present. To the extent it may be difficult to adhere anon-flexible tag to a doubly curved surface, a minimum of two readerantennae may be required for random placement of products having formfactors that do not force specific orientations. In another embodiment,an RFID tag can be applied to the bottom of the vial 160, or to the cap161. These locations would lend themselves to planar tag placementrather than the curved tag placement shown for the RFID tag 162.

A relatively flat, planar, or rectilinear product such as the DVD 150discussed previously lends itself to placement in a preferredorientation (such as a face-forward orientation). That is, such aproduct may be encouraged into predictable orientations by the geometryof a supporting structure (such as shelf 140) or may be encouraged by aretailer's orderly placement of merchandise (e.g., with one side forwardto the customer, or in a “this end up” orientation). There areinstances, however, where a product may be orientated randomly andunpredictably, which may make it more difficult to read an attached RFIDtag with a simple reader antenna. An example is a pharmacy environmentwhere merchandise such as prescription medicines, drugs, etc.(“prescriptions”) may be placed in containers such as vial 160, which inturn may be placed randomly into prescription envelopes or bags. To readan RFID tag 162 on vial 160 thus may require a specially designed readerantenna.

An exemplary RFID antenna system for use in a pharmacy application isshown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. A container or bin 170 may be provided to holdprescription bags, vials, and the like. In accordance with a preferredembodiment of the invention, associated with the bin 170 is an antennaconfiguration that incorporates both diversity and form factor. Thisexemplary system is designed with two antennae and may be used witheither planar or non-planar tags. If non-planar tags are used, anyrandom orientation of the product may be read. The majority of pharmacyproducts (pill bottles, liquid containers, etc.) have a cylindricalshape (single curved surface) to which a tag may be easily applied. Asseen in FIGS. 6A and 6B, one of the antennae is a loop 171, preferablyencircling (or otherwise surrounding a volume of) the bin. As shown inthis exemplary implementation, loop 171 is configured with a slighthorizontal forward tilt. A second antenna loop 172 is configured inparallel with and, preferably, attached to a side of bin 170.Preferably, for RFID applications, each antenna loop 171 and 172 wouldbe connected to additional circuitry (not shown) that may include tuningcomponents, switching components, wiring, etc., and an RFID reader, asis well known in the art. To optimize the system for use with a planartag, a form factor is preferably used which does not permit the tag tolean forward.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary implementation of bin 170 as used in apharmacy or other similar environment. As shown, the RFID taggedproducts such as vials 160 are placed in bags 175 and are stood uprightor most commonly with a slight backward tilt such that only infrequentlywill there be an unfavorable orientation between the reader antennae171, 172, and the products 160 (shown in phantom by dashed lines) andtheir RFID tags 162 (not shown).

In certain applications (e.g., pharmacies), multiple bins 170 may beused to hold products. It may furthermore be desirable to isolate thereading of RFID tags within each bin 170, in order to locate theproducts associated with the tags. For example, bin 170 may have anassociated RF shield such as a metal enclosure 174 to reduce the abilityof RFID antenna reader to locate products outside of bin 170.

EXAMPLES

The following are examples of specific implementations of preferredembodiments of the invention. As can be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art, any number of other implementations of the embodimentsof the invention may be achieved when reducing embodiments of theinvention to practice.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary implementation of a bin 200 used to holdtagged items such as prescriptions. The bin preferably includes an innershell 201 that is transparent to RF energy using any such known material(e.g., molded plastic, fiberglass, etc.). Prescriptions can be placedwithin this inner shell 201, preferably within envelopes as is the usualcase in a pharmacy environment. The inner shell 201 may be partiallyenclosed within an outer shell 202 that blocks RF energy, for example,to confine the read range of reader antennae within the bin 200.

Preferably, circuitry 205 is associated with the bin 200. Circuitry 205,for example, may include tuning components, switching components,wiring, connections, etc., as needed for the reader antennae associatedwith bin 200. For example, such circuitry may include tuning boards 206and 207. A connector such as a BNC connector 211 may be used to providean RF connection between circuitry 205 and external circuitry such as anRFID reader (not shown). Additional connections (not shown) may be madeto external circuitry, for example, control or power connections, ashave been described in previously referenced applications which havebeen incorporated herein by reference. The RF connection from connector211 may be made through a coaxial cable 212. A device such as rubbergrommet 213 may be used to protect coaxial cable 212 where it passesthrough an opening or hole (not shown) in outer shell 202. RFconnections may be made, for example, by connecting or soldering thecoaxial cable jacket to a ground pad 214, and the coaxial cable centerconductor to a tie point 215, both on tuning board 206. Likewise the RFconnection may be carried via coaxial cable 216 to a ground pad 217 anda tie point 218 on tuning board 207.

Diagonal reader antenna 220 may be tied to tuning board 206 throughconnection points 221. One implementation of the diagonal reader antenna220, as shown in FIG. 8, is a coaxial cable with its center conductorattached at connection points 221. The outer shield conductor need notbe connected to any other circuitry. If the balun 225 (discussed below)is used, the ends of the outer shield conductor may optionally be joinedas shown at 222. The diagonal reader antenna 220 may be attached to theinner shell 201 using adhesive devices 223, or any other connectionmeans. The exemplary diagonal reader antenna 220 thus essentiallysurrounds the bin 200, with a sloping orientation.

Another reader antenna, a wrap-around reader antenna 240 is provided inthis exemplary implementation. In this example, a loop is wrapped aroundboth sides of inner shell 201. The implementation shown in FIG. 8 uses amicrostrip construction, which consists of a wider conductive strip anda narrower conductive strip, separated by an insulating material. Anexample embodiment uses foil conductors on a flexible plastic sheet. Atpoint 241, preferably near the mid-point of the wraparound readerantenna 240, is an exemplary gap in the wider conductor, forming abalanced feed (balun) antenna as described in the previously referenced'721 application. In this example, the wraparound reader antenna 240continues around the inner shell 201 to the opposite side (shown on FIG.9). Preferably, connections to the tuning board 207 are made at point242, using wiring or other connectors 243.

FIG. 9 shows the view from the opposite side of bin 200 shown in FIG. 8.In this embodiment, the connectors 243 attach to points 244, on the endsof the narrower conductor of wraparound reader antenna 240. The widerconductor of wraparound reader antenna 240 need not be connected to anyexternal circuitry.

Also shown at approximately the midpoint (relative to the ends) ofdiagonal reader antenna 220 is a balun 225 provided on diagonal readerantenna 220. This balun is formed (as described in the previouslyreferenced '721 application) by removing a portion of the shielding(outer) coaxial cable. Thus, approaching the balun point, the diagonalreader antenna 220 is in the form of the usual coaxial cableconstruction 226, with the shield intact. At the balun point, a shortgap 227 is made in the shield, leaving the center conductor intact. Theinsulation around the center conductor is preferably left intact, butmay also be removed. After a short gap 227, the diagonal reader antenna220 continues at point 228 as, for example, a coaxial cable with theouter shield intact.

Any number of variations, changes, or modifications may be made to theseimplementations. For example, the balun may be omitted on either or bothreader antennae. Either or both antennae may be constructed usingcoaxial cable, microstrip, or other conductive material such as wires,conductive paint, etc. The antennae may be on the outside of inner shell201, on the inside, or molded or otherwise contained partly or fullywithin the inner shell 201. The diagonal reader antenna may be composedof additional loops in series or in parallel. The wraparound antenna maybe composed of a single path as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, or may becomposed of a loop on each side, with the two loops being in series orparallel.

It may be desired to have a bin larger than the bin illustrated in FIGS.7 through 9. FIG. 10 shows one example of an “oversize bin” 300, whichmay be used to hold items larger than typical prescription envelopes.The oversize bin 300 preferably includes an inner shell 301 that istransparent to RF energy (e.g., molded plastic, fiberglass, etc.). Itemsare placed within this inner shell 301. The inner shell 301 may bepartially enclosed within an outer shell (not shown) that blocks RFenergy, for example, to confine the read range of reader antennae withinthe bin 300.

Associated with the bin 300 is circuitry 305 that may include tuningcomponents, switching components, wiring, connections, etc., as neededfor the reader antennae associated with bin 300. For example, suchcircuitry may include tuning boards 306 and 307. A connector such as aBNC connector 311 may be used to provide an RF connection betweencircuitry 305 and external circuitry such as an RFID reader (not shown).Additional connections (not shown) may be made to external circuitry,for example, control or power connections, as have been described inpreviously referenced applications. The RF connection from connector 311may be made through a coaxial cable 312. RF connections may be made, forexample, by connecting or soldering the coaxial cable jacket to a groundpad 314, and the coaxial cable center conductor to a tie point 315, bothon tuning board 307. Likewise the RF connection may be carried viacoaxial cable 316 to a ground pad 317 and a tie point 318 on tuningboard 306.

Diagonal reader antenna 320 may be tied to tuning board 306 throughconnection points 321. Antenna 320, as shown in FIG. 10, is a coaxialcable with its center conductor attached at connection points 321. Theouter shield conductor need not be connected to any other circuitry. Ifthe balun 325 (discussed below) is used, the ends of the outer shieldconductor may optionally be joined as shown at 322. The diagonal readerantenna 320 may be attached to the inner shell 301 using adhesivedevices 323 or any other connection means. In this embodiment, thediagonal reader antenna 320 essentially surrounds the bin 300 with asloping orientation.

A side reader antenna 340 can also be provided. This is shown as a loopantenna on one side of inner shell 301, although a wraparound antennamay also be used as discussed previously. The embodiment shown in FIG.10 uses a loop construction, which consists of a conductive strip. Anexample embodiment uses foil conductors on a plastic sheet. The sidereader antenna 340 is connected from feed points 344 by wiring or otherconnectors 343 to points 342 on tuning board 307. Instead of the sidereader antenna 340 being a loop antenna, it may also be a microstripconstruction as previously described, and may incorporate a balun, alsopreviously described.

A secondary controller 345 may be included in the bin as shown. Thesecondary controller 345 may receive RF energy through connector 346,and may route the RF energy through connection 347 to the tuning boards306 and 307, instead of using connector 311. RF energy may also berouted from secondary controller 345 to antennae on other bins or otherdevices (not shown).

FIG. 11 shows the view from the opposite side of bin 300. Diagonalreader antenna 320 may be provided with a balun 325 as describedearlier.

Any number of variations, changes, or modifications may be made to theseimplementations. For example, the balun may be omitted on either or bothreader antenna. Either or both antennae may be constructed using coaxialcable, microstrip, or other conductive material such as wires,conductive paint, etc. The antennae may be on the outside of innershells 201 or 301, on the inside, or molded or otherwise containedpartly or fully within the inner shells 201 or 301.

FIG. 12 shows a sample of some of the many possible implementations ofantennae for use in the system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention. For example, diagonal loop antenna 220 consisting of a singleloop, previously discussed, is shown having feed points 221 and anoptional balun 225. A dual-loop-in-series antenna 230 is shown havingfeed points 231 and an optional balun 232. A dual-loop-in-parallelantenna 235 is shown having feed points 236 and optional balun 237.

FIG. 12 also shows the wraparound antenna 240, previously discussed, inthe form of a single loop having feed points 242 and an optional balun241. A dual-loop-in-parallel wraparound antenna 245 is shown having feedpoints 247 and an optional balun 246.

Besides the diversity reader antennae described here as particularlyuseful for detecting randomly oriented RFID tags within a container, itmay also be desired to provide reader antennae for use within a shelf.Previously referenced application No. 60/479,846, disclosed a“figure-eight” antenna used in a vertical orientation. FIG. 13A shows ahorizontal orientation. A fixture such as a shelf 450 is provided tohold items. The shelf may incorporate a supporting or weight bearingstructure 451. This structure 451 may be metal or other RF—blockingmaterial. The shelf 450 may include at least one antenna tuning board452, and optionally one or more secondary controllers 453. Connectors454 may be provided for RF connections, and connectors 455 for non-RFconnections such as serial communications, etc. The wiring within theshelf is not shown but has been described earlier in this or thepreviously referenced applications.

Antenna support plane 460 can be included within shelf 450. This supportplane may be an insulating material such as plastic or fiberglass. Thesupport plane 460 supports a reader antenna 461 that may be provided inloop form, preferably in the “figure-eight” form as shown made of metalfoil. However, other fabrication methods may be used such as wire,coaxial cable, or other conductors. A feed point 462 is provided for theantenna to be connected to circuitry such as tuning board 452. Openings463 may be provided in support plane 460, for example, to allow accessto circuitry or reduce weight or cost

Shelf cover 470 is provided to cover the antenna 461. The shelf cover ispreferably transparent to RF energy.

Besides the figure-eight form factor of antenna 461, any number ofantenna form factors may be used in accordance with preferredembodiments of the invention, as, for example, within a shelf. Someexemplary form factors are shown in FIG. 13B. For some applications,these may perform better than simple loop antennae. Antenna 480 includesa loop conductor 481 with a feed point 482. Also incorporated in antenna480 are one or more additional conductive pathways 483 connecting intothe loop conductor, and forming conductive paths in parallel to someportions of the loop conductor. In antenna 480, the additionalconductive pathways 483 are essentially straight. The loop conductor 481and additional conductive pathways 483 may be made of conductivematerials, for example, wire, metal foil, printed circuitry, or theouter jacket of a coaxial cable.

Antenna 485 includes a loop conductor 486 with a feed point 487. Alsoincorporated in antenna 485 are one or more additional conductivepathways 488 connecting into the loop conductor and forming conductivepaths in parallel to some portions of the loop conductor. In antenna485, the additional conductive pathways 488 are generally serpentine inshape, made of a series of straight segments.

Antenna 490 can include a loop conductor 491 with a feed point 492. Alsoincorporated in antenna 490 are one or more additional conductivepathways 493 connecting into the loop conductor, and forming conductivepaths in parallel to some portions of the loop conductor. In antenna490, the additional conductive pathways 493 are generally serpentine inshape, made of a series of curved segments.

Antenna 495 includes a loop conductor 496 with a feed point 497. Alsoincorporated in antenna 495 are one or more additional conductivepathways 498 connecting into the loop conductor, and forming conductivepaths in parallel to some portions of the loop conductor.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary wiring connection method in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. An RFID reader 500 connects to a ¼wavelength of 75 ohm coaxial cable 501 (in this example, beingapproximately 12 feet long), which in turn connects to a ¼ wavelength of50 ohm coaxial cable 502 (12′ 1″ long). Coaxial cable 502 is connectedto branching connector 503 that branches the coaxial line into multipleadditional 50 ohm coaxial cables, including the following:

A short 50 ohm cable to a 50 ohm resistor 504 for circuit protectionpurposes. A DC-blocking capacitor 505 can be used if any DC issuperimposed on the RF signal.

A length of 50 ohm cable 506 for tuning optimization purposes,approximately 3′ 4″ long.

Multiple 50 ohm cables 507, each leading to a group of bins (forexample, group or rack 531 composed of bins 200 a-200 h). Cable 507 isapproximately 4′ 9″ long.

In this example, cable 507 leads to a pair of secondary controllers 520and 521. Each secondary controller may, for example, feed RF to andcontrol switching of eight reader antennae, for example, secondarycontroller 520 may control a diagonal antenna and a wraparound antennaon each of bins 200 a-200 d, while secondary controller 521 may controlantennae on each of bins 200 e-200 h. The use of a secondary controllerto control antennae has been described in the previously referencedapplications.

The RF connection can continue past secondary controller 521 to a 6′long coaxial cable 522 and then is shorted to ground at point 523, thatis, the center conductor of the coaxial cable is connected here to theouter sheath. If any DC is superimposed on the RF signal, a DC blockingcapacitor 524 may be used, for example, a 0.01 microfarad capacitor. ADC blocking capacitor is used in order to prevent a DC short which mayaffect the performance of the reader. A 0.01 uF capacitor is frequencydependent. At 13.56 MHz, the capacitor performs very dose to a shortcircuit and at DC it appears to be an open circuit which masks thephysical short circuit from the reader for DC conditions.

Although the example shown in FIG. 14 connects the reader to six racks531-536, each having eight bins, it should be understood that more orfewer racks may be connected, and each rack may have more or fewer thaneight bins.

FIG. 15 illustrates another exemplary implementation of an embodiment ofthe invention in the form of an RFID antenna system. The exemplaryantenna system includes diagonal reader antennae 220 and wraparoundreader antennae 240, each paired within a bin 200, and having associatedantenna tuning boards 206 and 207. A rack 531 of several bins 200 iscontrolled by secondary controllers 520-521. Also included are theimpedance matching circuitry (elements 501-505), a primary controller550, and an RFID reader 500. (Although not shown, it should be apparentthat antenna tuning boards 206 and 207 may include a selector switch,tuning components, a switch to tune or detune the associated antenna ondemand, and other necessary components, and that secondary controllers30 may include logic and switching controls as necessary to perform theoperations described herein.)

Each secondary controller 520, 521 of the exemplary system is connectedto one or more of the antenna tuning boards 206, 207 by a connectionsuch as a coaxial cable 509 for transmission of RF signals and controlcables 554 for digital signals. In FIG. 15, for each secondarycontroller there are shown three bins 200, each bin having a tuningboard 206 with a diagonal antenna 220 and a tuning board 207 with awraparound antenna 240 (although there may be more or less bins, tuningboards, and antennae per secondary controller in reducing the exemplarysystem to practice). Preferably, the tuning boards are at similar shortdistances from their respective secondary controllers.

The RFID feed system shown in FIG. 15 incorporates an RFID reader 500and an impedance matching circuit incorporating elements 501-505 asdiscussed previously.

Parts or all of the systems described so far may be contained within astructure or structures such as pharmacy storage bins, shelves,counters, etc., and certain elements may be contained within a rack 531of bins.

In another exemplary implementation, a matching circuit may be formedfrom common coaxial cable. In this configuration, a 50 Ω terminator 504(whose impedance is equal to the characteristic impedance of the system)is placed in parallel (using connection 503) with the RF cables 507leading to each rack of bins such as 531, etc. For each rack 531 ofbins, after the last secondary controller 521 on the RF cable (507,508), there is placed a length of coaxial cable 522 leading through a DCblocking capacitor 524 to a ground 523 (the center of the RF cable atthis point being shorted to the ground sheath of the RF cable).

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a plurality ofantennae 220, 240 having associated tuning circuits 206, 207, secondarycontrollers 520, 521, and associated wiring may all be contained in oron a physical structure, as shown, for example, in FIG. 15 as rack 531of bins. (For convenience, the term “rack” used herein will be taken tomean one unit or group of bins preferably in physical proximity to oneanother, and served by one or a few secondary controllers 520, 521. Theterm “rack” however is not meant to be limiting as to the physicalattributes of any structure that may be used to implement embodiments ofthe invention, but used merely for convenience in explaining theembodiment.) As shown in FIG. 15, rack 531 is provided with multipleantennae that are each connected to a reader 500 by one or moretransmission cables including cables 501, 502, 507, 508, 509. The cable509 interconnects between the tuning circuits 206, 207 and the secondarycontrollers 520, 521. Cables 508 interconnect secondary controllerswithin a rack, and cable 507 connects the rack to the common point 503and thence back through impedance matching coaxial cables 501, 502 toreader 500.

The example in FIG. 15 illustrates the reader 500 being controlled by aprimary controller or controller 550 that sends commands or controlsignals along control cables 551, 552, 553 to select which antenna isactive at any time. These control cables may be in series as shown inFIG. 15 or may be in parallel or series-parallel connections. Betweenracks, the commands or control signals may be carried on control cable553. Within a shelf, the commands or control signals may be carried bycables 552, 554. The primary controller 550 may be a microprocessor orany processing device (e.g., discrete logic circuit, applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable logic circuit, digitalsignal processor (DSP), etc.). Furthermore, the racks may also beconfigured with secondary controllers 520, 521 that co-operate with theprimary controller 550 to select antennae. The secondary controllers520, 521 may also be microprocessors (or other processing devices) withsufficient outputs to control all the antennae within the associatedrack.

The controller 550 may selectively operate any or all the switches bysending commands through a digital data communication cable 551 bysending a unique address associated with each tuning circuit 206, 207.The addresses could be transmitted through the use of addressableswitches such as, for example, ones identical or similar to a DallasSemiconductor DS2405 “1-Wire®” addressable switch. Each such addressableswitch provides a single output that may be used for switching a singleantenna. Preferably, the controller 550 may selectively operate any orall the switches by utilizing one or more secondary controllers 520,521. For example, the secondary controller 520, 521 may be amicroprocessor such as a Microchip Technology Incorporated PICmicro®Microcontroller which can provide multiple outputs for switching morethan one antenna, such as all the antennas in proximity to the secondarycontroller. The controller 550 may also be a microprocessor such as aMicroChip Technology Incorporated PICmicro® Microcontroller, or amicroprocessor such as an Intel Incorporated Microprocessor.Communications between the controller 550 and the secondary controller520, 521 can be implemented by using digital communication signals inaccordance with well known communication protocols (e.g., RS-232, RS-485serial protocols, Ethernet protocols, Token Ring networking protocols,etc.).

In the previously referenced patent applications, the term “intelligentstation” is used as a general term to describe equipment, such as a rack531, which may include a secondary controller, switches and/or tuningcircuitry, and/or antennae. More than one intelligent station may beconnected together and connected and incorporated with an RFID reader. Aprimary controller can be used to run the RFID reader and theintelligent stations. The primary controller itself may be controlled byapplication software residing on a computer.

In a preferred embodiment, the intelligent station system is controlledthrough an electronic network 570, as shown in FIG. 15. A controllingsystem that controls the intelligent station system will send commanddata to the primary controller 550 via Ethernet, RS-232 or similarprotocol. These commands include but are not limited to instructions foroperating the RFID reader unit 500 and antenna switches associated withtuning circuit 206, 207 The controller 550 is programmed to interpretthe commands that are transmitted through the unit. If a command isintended for the reader unit 500, the controller 550 passes that commandto the reader unit 500. Other commands could be used for selectingantennae 220, 240, and these commands will be processed if necessary bycontroller 550 to determine what data should be passed through digitaldata communication cable 551 to the secondary controllers 520, 521.

Likewise, the secondary controllers 520, 521 can pass data back to theprimary controller 550, as can the reader unit 500. The controller 550then relays result data back to the controlling system through theelectronic network 570. The inventory control processing unit 580, shownin FIG. 15, is one example of such a controlling system. As discussedfurther herein with respect to the intelligent station system, theelectronic network and controlling system are used interchangeably todepict that the intelligent station system may be controlled by thecontrolling system connected to the intelligent station system throughan electronic network 570.

Controller 550 of FIG. 15 typically decides whether a command from theelectronic network 570 should be sent to reader 500, or should be sentthrough the digital communication cable 551. Also, controller 550 mustrelay data it receives from the digital communication cable 551, andfrom reader unit 500, back to the electronic network. Under oneconfiguration, the electronic network would issue a command to read asingle antenna. The controller 550 would then (a) set the proper switchfor that antenna, (b) activate the reader, (c) receive data back fromthe reader, (d) deactivate the reader, and (e) send the data back to theelectronic network. Further details of the processing of command signalsfrom a host by the controller can be found in U.S. provisional patentapplication 60/346,388 (filed Jan. 9, 2002), which has been incorporatedby reference in its entirety herein.

An additional advantage of placing the controller 550 between theelectronic network 570 and the reader unit as shown in FIG. 15 is thatdifferent types of readers 500 can be used as needed. The commands fromthe electronic network to the controller may be transmitted usinggeneric control data (not reader-specific), thus allowing for expandeduses by various types of readers. For example, the electronic networkcan send to the controller a “read antennas” command. The controller inturn can then translate this command into the appropriate command syntaxrequired by each reader unit. Likewise, the controller can also receivethe response syntax from the reader unit (which may differ based on thetype of the reader unit), and parse it into a generic response back tothe electronic network. The command and response syntax may differ foreach type of reader unit 500, but the controller 550 makes thistransparent to the electronic network.

FIG. 15 further shows digital communication cable 551 connecting primarycontroller 550 to the secondary controllers 520, 521, and RFtransmission cable 507 connects the reader 500 to the antennae 220, 240.In this embodiment, the primary controller 550 or secondary controller520, 521 may operate a tee switch 560 that selects which of the racks(for example, rack 531) or which group of bins 200 will be selected. Thetee switch 560 may be separate from or part of a shelf as would berecognized by one skilled in the art. In FIG. 15, the tee switch 560 isused with a “parallel-series” RF connection arrangement. That is,controller 550 and reader 500 operate the antenna within a rack, withthe RF and digital communication lines branched off (i.e., connectedwith a multi-drop or “tee” arrangement with each of the branchesarranged in parallel) to antennae within racks that are arranged inseries or in series-parallel. This configuration allows the RF signal tobe switched by the tee switch 560 into a rack or group of bins, or tobypass them altogether. In parallel with the RF connections to rack 531through one RF cable 507, RF connections may be made in parallel toother racks (not shown) through other cables 507. The tee or multi-dropconfiguration shown in FIG. 15 may be used to reduce the number ofswitching elements through which the RF transmission cable passes enroute to any given antenna.

In FIG. 15, a portion of the control cable 553 that extends beyond rack531, and a portion of the RF cable 508 between secondary controllers areshown outside of the rack. However, as would be recognized by thoseskilled in the art, these extended portions of the cables may also becontained within the rack. Additional extended control cable portions553 may be used to connect to more racks.

The item information data collected by the reader units 500 istransmitted to an inventory control processing unit 580. The inventorycontrol processing unit 580 is typically configured to receive iteminformation from the intelligent stations or racks 531, etc. Theinventory control processing unit 580 is typically connected to theintelligent stations over an electronic network 570 and is alsoassociated with an appropriate data store 590 that stores inventoryrelated data including reference tables and also program code andconfiguration information relevant to inventory control or warehousing.The inventory control processing unit 580 is also programmed andconfigured to perform inventory control functions that are well known tothose skilled in the art. For example, some of the functions performedby an inventory control (or warehousing) unit include: storing andtracking quantities of inventoried items on hand, daily movements orsales of various items, tracking positions or locations of variousitems, etc.

In operation, the inventory control system would determine iteminformation from the intelligent stations (531, etc.) that are connectedto the inventory control processing unit 580 through an electronicnetwork 570. In one embodiment, the various intelligent stations 531,etc. would be under the control of inventory control processing unit 580that would determine when the reader units 500 under control ofcontroller 550 would poll the antennae 220, 240 to determine iteminformation of items to be inventoried. In an alternate embodiment, thecontroller(s) 550 may be programmed to periodically poll the connectedmultiple antennae for item information and then transmit the determineditem information to the inventory control processing unit using areverse “push” model of data transmission. In a further embodiment, thepolling and data transmission of item information by the controller 550may be event driven, for example, triggered by a periodic replenishmentof inventoried items on the intelligent shelves. In each case, thecontroller 550 would selectively energize the multiple antennaeconnected to reader 500 to determine item information from the RFID tagsassociated with the items to be inventoried.

Once the item information is received from the reader units 500 of theintelligent stations 531, etc., the inventory control processing unit580 processes the received item information using, for example,programmed logic, code, and data at the inventory control processingunit 580 and at the associated data store 590. The processed iteminformation is then typically stored at the data store 590 for futureuse in the inventory control system and method of the invention.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated, it should be apparent that many modifications to theembodiments and implementations of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Althoughembodiments have been described in connection with the use of a binstructure, it should be readily apparent that any structure that may beused in selling, marketing, promoting, displaying, presenting,providing, retaining, securing, storing, or otherwise supporting an itemor product, may be used in implementing embodiments of the invention.

Although specific circuitry, components, or modules (e.g., tuningcircuit 206-207, tee switch 560, impedance matching components 501, 502,RF switch, etc.) may be disclosed herein in connection with exemplaryembodiments of the invention, it should be readily apparent that anyother structural or functionally equivalent circuit(s), component(s) ormodule(s) may be utilized in implementing the various embodiments of theinvention.

The modules described herein, particularly those illustrated or inherentin, or apparent from the instant disclosure, as physically separatedcomponents, may be omitted, combined or further separated into a varietyof different components sharing different resources as required for theparticular implementation of the embodiments disclosed (or apparent fromthe teachings herein). The modules described herein may, whereappropriate, (e.g., reader 500, primary controller 550, inventorycontrol processing unit 580, data store 590, etc.) be one or morehardware, software, or hybrid components residing in (or distributedamong) one or more local and/or remote computer or other processingsystems. Although such modules may be shown or described herein asphysically separated components (e.g., data store 590, inventoryprocessing unit 580, controller 550, reader 500, secondary controller520, etc.), it should be readily apparent that the modules may beomitted, combined or further separated into a variety of differentcomponents, sharing different resources (including processing units,memory, clock devices, software routines, etc.) as required for theparticular implementation of the embodiments disclosed (or apparent fromthe teachings herein). Indeed, even a single general purpose computer(or other processor-controlled device), whether connected directly toantennas 220, 240, tuning circuits 206, 207, racks 531, or connectedthrough a network 570 executing a program stored on an article ofmanufacture (e.g., recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, memorycartridge, etc.) to produce the functionality referred to herein, may beutilized to implement the illustrated embodiments.

One skilled in the art would recognize that inventory control processingunit 580 could be implemented on a general purpose computer systemconnected to an electronic network 570, such as a computer network. Thecomputer network can also be a public network, such as the Internet orMetropolitan Area Network (MAN), or other private network, such as acorporate Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN),Bluetooth, or even a virtual private network. A computer system includesa central processing unit (CPU) connected to a system memory. The systemmemory typically contains an operating system, a BIOS driver, andapplication programs. In addition, the computer system contains inputdevices such as a mouse and a keyboard, and output devices such as aprinter and a display monitor.

The computer system generally includes a communications interface, suchas an Ethernet card, to communicate to the electronic network 570. Othercomputer systems may also be connected to the electronic network 570.One skilled in the art would recognize that the above system describesthe typical components of a computer system connected to an electronicnetwork. It should be appreciated that many other similar configurationsare within the abilities of one skilled in the art and all of theseconfigurations could be used with the methods and systems of theinvention. Furthermore, it should be recognized that the computer systemand network disclosed herein can be programmed and configured as aninventory control processing unit to perform inventory control relatedfunctions that are well known to those skilled in the art.

In addition, one skilled in the art would recognize that the “computer”implemented invention described herein may include components that arenot computers per se, but also include devices such as Internetappliances and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that may be used toprovide one or more of the functionalities discussed herein.Furthermore, while “electronic” networks are generically used to referto the communications network connecting the processing sites of theinvention, one skilled in the art would recognize that such networkscould be implemented using optical or other equivalent technologies.Likewise, it is also to be understood that the invention utilizes knownsecurity measures for transmission of electronic data across networks.Therefore, encryption, authentication, verification, and other securitymeasures for transmission of electronic data across both public andprivate networks are provided, where necessary, using techniques thatare well known to those skilled in the art.

It is to be understood therefore that the invention is not limited tothe particular embodiments disclosed (or apparent from the disclosure)herein, but only limited by the claims appended hereto.

1. A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system comprising: at leastone non-planar RFID tag associated with an item; a first reader antenna;a second reader antenna; and a container for storing a plurality ofitems, wherein said first reader antenna is in the form of a loopsubstantially surrounding a volume of the container; and wherein saidsecond reader antenna is in the form of a loop in a plane parallel withone side of the container.
 2. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)system as recited in claim 1, wherein said second reader antenna isattached to the one side of the container.
 3. The Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) system as recited in claim 1, wherein saidcontainer includes a form factor for forcing the item associated withsaid at least one non-planar tag into a specific orientation relative toat least one of said first and second reader antennae.
 4. The RadioFrequency Identification (MD) system as recited in claim 1, wherein saidcontainer includes an inner shell that is transparent to RF energy, andan outer shell that blocks RF energy.
 5. The Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) system as recited in claim 1, wherein said atleast one non-planar RFID tag is affixed to a bottle having acylindrical shape.
 6. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systemas recited in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of containershaving multiple reader antennas for reading RFID tags affixed to planarand non-planar prescription medicine items.
 7. A Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) system comprising: at least one planar REID tagassociated with an item; a first reader antenna; a second readerantenna; and a container for storing a plurality of items, wherein saidfirst reader antenna is in the form of a loop substantially surroundinga volume of the container; and wherein said second reader antenna is inthe form of a loop in a plane parallel with one side of the container.8. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system as recited in claim7, wherein said container includes a form factor for forcing the itemassociated with said at least one planar tag into a specific orientationrelative to at least one of said first and second reader antennae. 9.The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system as recited in claim 7,wherein said at least one planar RFID tag is affixed to a bottle havinga cylindrical shape.